Seated Boy

This was a drawing in which I struggled with in the beginning. We were to look at a drawing and using contour lines, draw the outline of the figure. Once that was complete, we were to use crosshatching to give value and contour to the figure. We were supposed to not see the contour line drawn in the beginning but you can still see mine some. Transitioning was the hardest part for me. From contour to crosshatch and dark to light. But I began to get a better idea of what to do after working on the assignment for a few days. When you want an area to be darker, your lines need to be closer together and more of them. The main idea of this assignment was to have us learn to use crosshatching easily ad correctly. Now, I feel like I would be able to do another drawing such as this on my own, and one day be able to do a complete drawing only using crosshatching. 

Texture

.


I came across a vintage ad online which showed an African American woman pointing at a younger African American girl. Both had these big, beautiful, afro's and it was something that really caught my eye. As soon as I saw the picture I saw where and how I could use texture to give the contour line drawing more of a story. 

I knew that I wanted to use 4 different textures in this drawing. I needed a texture for: the hair, skin, earrings, and background. For the hair I used our wooden door. It gives it a look as if there is space in between the hair itself, and really seemed to resemble closely to what hair might look like. For the skin I wanted something practical, so I went with the cement walls. This gave a small bit of texture, yet was not out of place. For the earrings, though small, I used tile on my floor which look almost like leopard print. And then, the last texture I wanted to add was the background. I used the tile in my kitchen, and it began to take shape almost like a fence or maybe wallpaper. I just felt like it worked great. All the textures together seemed to paint a picture better than just the contour line drawing.

Model for Critique of Haring drawing

For this assignment, I am going to critique my own Keith Haring inspired drawing which we did in week one of class. The model for critique goes as follows: Description, Analysis, Interpretation. In Description you give a verbal account of what you see in the drawing. Color, shapes, etc. In Analysis you discuss how things are presented. Value, Scale, etc. In Interpretation you discuss what you think the meaning or effect of the piece is. So I will write a step by step critique of my own drawing.

Description: I see the colors red, gold, grey, green. I see two figures and a round globe like object. I also see smaller objects which are piled on top of the larger round object.
Analysis: I see that the round object is earth, and the scale of the earth is not equal to the scale of the figures in the drawing. I can see that there is movement in the small objects and in the figure under what seems to be earth. The colors are bright and seem to have meaning.
Interpretation: Since I did this myself, it is easy to interpret. There are two figures which seem to have meaning. One figure is holding the earth on its back while on its hands and knees. This figure has a green recycle "heart" which says to me that the person is someone who cares for the earth which is perched on their back. Then you have what looks like a pile of trash which is on top the earth, weighing it down upon the figure. The trash is being thrown there by a figure who shows no head, who is standing up on a golden color stool. This figure must represent a large number of people, not just one person.  It seems that what the whole drawing is saying is there are people who litter and thrown their trash on the ground, almost as if they are too good or too lazy to throw their rash away correctly. So, then you have the people who are always "walking behind" these people to help keep the earth and environment clean and healthy.

Negative Space & Still Life

During this classroom assignment, we were to draw the negative space of a still life put in front of us. The purpose was to be able to see things in life, all around us, and be able to see the negative space as well as the positive.

Using contour lines, we were only supposed to draw the negative shapes, and not the positive details in the still life itself. Once we accomplished that, we then were to experiment using lines in the negative space. In doing this, you can still see what the still life was in a way, even though there were no added details to the positive space.

What I decided to focus on in the still life was the frame, the stool, the lamp cord, the large and small pottery. When you look at my drawing, you can see the negative outline of them easily once you know what was included in the still life. The negative space is filled with crosshatching and fluid like lines. I wanted to show two values, dark and light in the negative space.

Positive/Negative Bird

           

            I have really never thought about nor been introduced to the concept of Positive and Negative space. I tend to be a believer in Quantum Physics and am always wondering if the things around me are really what I perceive them to be. So, I must say that this lesson was very interesting for me and even in a way flows along the same path as Quantum Mechanics.

            We were asked to look at a picture up on the screen. “What do you see?” we were asked. Well, I saw two black objects which seemed very flat and were just randomly put there. But, ah hah! Lines were then given to the “empty” space, which sat white and alone, and now we are looking at 3 dimensional objects! Boxes to be exact! Simply adding the connecting lines gave these inadequate objects meaning to the mind now! But, had the objects been there the whole time? Why had I not been able to see them? Answer is, each side of our brains is fighting against each other. Logic, creative, logic, creative. Also, we are so used to only focusing in on the obvious objects around us (Positive space) that we forget to even see the “empty” space (Negative space).  

            So, for the assignment, we were to look at a simple drawing of a bird and a circle, and draw only the Negative space around it. By using simple couture lines and a grid drawn on my paper, I was able to draw out the negative space I saw in the picture. It was a rather simple drawing, but, again we needed to focus on the scale of the picture, and then sizing it to our paper which was much smaller than the original picture. Once we finished the drawing, we were to finish the age by only drawing in the negative spaces. Using a HB pencil, I wanted to do some experimenting with lines, pattern, and value. 

            There are really three different areas in my drawing. The first area consists of the tree, which seems to be hugging the moon. It is swirly and very whimsical. I used short line marks to shade in the sky around the tree and moon. Then, using my fingers, I smudged it up a bit just to make it feel softer. 

         Below it, the bird has almost turned into the earth, seeming more like the dirt space between the tree and the land below. I wanted to use many different size, shape and color shade for the boxes. They seem to overlap each other and almost hang from the earth, under the tree. For me, it is like imagining that the earth above is held up by tons of boxes just piled on top of each other. But then, there is darkness. Which the deeper into the earth’s core it goes, the darker it gets.

     I also felt the need to use circular motion in my drawing. So, to go along with the fantasy scheme I wanted to used miniature spirals up in what I almost think of as the clouds in the sky, which seem to be more like bubbles.

            What I am taking away from this assignment, is to stop and see the usually unseen, negative space. I now look around places and try to figure out the negative space in pictures and even in reality. Though I had some fun with this drawing, I think that the drawing itself expresses a bit on the subject of negative space. 

Upside Down Picasso

      For this assignment, we were given a portrait that Picasso did of Igor Stravinsky. The only thing about this assignment was that we were not only supposed to draw the same portrait but we were to turn the picture upside down and draw the lines we saw. We folded the sketch paper into 8 rectangles which then a grid was also put on top of the portrait. In doing this, we were to focus on how the lines of the drawing inside those boxes, and use this as a guide. We learned that in using a view finder you are able to take one picture and change the focus to many different subjects. Just like using the grid, you are able to focus on specific areas of the artwork.

My Drawing

 

Original Picasso

Media used for this assignment was HB pencil. The subject was the upside down portrait of Igor Stravinsky, and the objective was to teach us how to not draw a man in a chair, but to focus more on the actual lines and subject matter. In doing this, we were exercising our Right brain instead of allowing the Left brain to interrupt.

             For me, I would say that this assignment in general was half hard half easy for me. Strangely, for me, I found it very frustrating having to use a grid. But in drawing the portrait upside down I felt I did better then maybe I would have drawing it right side up. This lesson was rather fun for me, and slowly I am beginning to get back into the groove of my creative mind.